A relaxing thrill

Blueberry Hill aims to provide affordable luxuries

Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press
“Glamping,” or glamorous camping, involves sleeping in a king-size bed on a nice deck instead of on a few king-size pebbles and a tree root.

Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press
Some tents have indoor sitting areas.

Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press
Consider “glamping” at Blueberry Hill Estate, where the tents are guaranteed to be level, dry and equipped with their own furniture and patio.

Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press
Tom Bevis, owner of Blueberry Hill Estate in Paoli, Ind., rests in one of the estate’s outdoor gardens.

TOP: Blueberry Hill is a 200-acre country French estate just to the west of Paoli, Ind. Guests may come for the day or stay overnight in the bed-and-breakfast or “glamping” area, and enjoy spa services, fine dining and wine, a pool, mineral bath, gaming areas, disk golf and much more. The estate also hosts weddings and events.

Blueberry Hill Estate is for relaxing, whether it’s indoors or out, on a breezy patio or in one of the hammocks scattered around the hilltop area.

photos by Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press
Guests at Blueberry Hill Estate near Paoli, Ind., take in the 22-mile view from the hilltop patio area.

A luxurious bed-and-breakfast, day spa and “glorious camping,” or “glamping,” experience has opened at an estate near Paoli, Ind.

Blueberry Hill Estate, just 10 miles down the road from French Lick, is the brainchild of Tom Bevis and his family, who have spent the last five years transforming their private home into a public getaway. It’s at the end of an hour-and-a-half drive into the hilly Hoosier National Forest and through the little town of English, the road well-stocked with overlooks, wildflowers and wildlife.

“This is a 200-acre French Country estate,” said Bevis. “I’ve had it since 1982 and I’ve always had the desire to develop it into something that would benefit the community, a getaway place for adults. It’s very peaceful and relaxing, and we try to combine some entertainment with that. We’re kind of a unique animal, combining a lot of concepts and ideas together.”

The eclectic experience Blueberry Hill offers is a compilation of the life experiences of Bevis, who began as a body shop worker in his native Terre Haute, Ind., years ago. Bevis later began working as a pipeline welder. That work drew to him to the pipeline boom in Australia, where he owned his own pipeline company.

But the pull of his extended family, still in Terre Haute, brought Bevis back to the Midwest, this time to Chicago where he built and owned two rinks in the Elgin, Ill., area, according to Jason Bevis, his son.

When he sold the rinks in the late 1970s, Bevis was ready for early retirement. The family began looking for a secluded home with lots of property and they found it in Southern Indiana.

After a few years of retirement, the senior Bevis was lured back to work to help direct a 77,000-square-foot sanctuary addition to the family’s church home, Bethel Baptist Church in Schaumburg, Ill.

The project was so successful that Bevis did additional church projects in Menominee Falls, Wisc., and Indianapolis. Meanwhile, Jason Bevis was pursing a chemistry degree at Indiana University. When he graduated, Jason Bevis decided instead to go into business with his father. Their project was to develop the Hamptons apartment complex in Bloomington.

Meanwhile, Tom Bevis was continuing to upgrade the family’s home estate.

The house at Blueberry Hill encompasses 14,000 square feet. It was built between 1953 and 1957 by Paoli entrepreneur Gene Cornwell.

“Cornwell made his fortune building television cabinets at Cornwell Corp.,” said Bevis. “Eventually, they had a fire at the factory and never recovered. Cornwell sold the home, and I bought it from that second owner.”

After the apartment complex project, Jason Bevis moved to California for a few years. He and his visiting parents often toured the California vineyards, providing experiences they incorporated into Blueberry Hill with wine and food pairings and the spa.

The estate is more than a bed-and-breakfast or overnight camp. Guests can spend a day swimming in the pool, playing disc golf and sampling the nine wine and food stations throughout the afternoon. Or stop in for dinner at the restaurant or pub, or spend the night, or choose it as a setting for a wedding.

“There are places that offer this type of thing, but most have a minimum of a two-night stay,” said Bevis. “I wanted to offer something for people or groups that’s a little more affordable, and it’s a different concept because we have daily admissions where you can come from nine to five.”

After taking five-and-a-half years to turn the private residence into a resort, Blueberry Hill Estate had its grand opening in early August. Amenities include the house with bed-and-breakfast, dining room, pool, mineral bath, clay bathing area, 18-hole disc golf course, a hilltop patio with a 22-mile view, various gaming areas for croquet, beanbag toss and more, hiking trails, spa with massage, a pub area and a “glamping” area.

What makes “glamping” different from camping is electricity, fine linens and in some cases bathrooms and running water.

They are not placed directly on the ground, meaning they are drier and almost insect-free. Yet they retain the natural undeveloped surroundings of a campsite.

“Our areas are a little more artistically designed than normal,” said Blueberry Hill executive assistant Carla Newlin. “Usually, it’s just a deck with a big army tent on it, but instead of just putting a couple chairs in there, we added patio furniture to make it more comfortable. There are some plants and landscaping, and the tents have electricity and little refrigerators.

“The reaction has been all positive so far,” said Newlin. “We’re building a third ‘glamping’ area which will be more of a permanent tent structure; it will be climate-controlled and even have indoor plumbing.”

The roomy, well-lighted and luxuriously appointed French Country home contains eight bedrooms, five of which are used now as bed-and-breakfast accommodations. The guest rooms are large, decorated in soft colors of rose and sea foam green. Two pairs of rooms share large bathrooms, while the suite has a sitting area and his and hers bathrooms inside. “There are 80 windows in this building and not a bad view anywhere,” said Newlin. “It was very well planned.”

A south-facing sun porch is the dining area, where bed-and-breakfast guests, “glampers,” and day visitors may enjoy breakfast between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, dinner is also served here with a reservation, and wine and food pairings are offered around the estate between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m..

On the ground floor is the spa area, a sunken room lit with flickering candles, suffused with sweet aromas and soft harp music. Massages should be reserved in advance.

Finally, the lower level is home to a game room, warmly finished in brick and leather, with billiards, a couple vintage arcade games, large-screen TV, wine cellar and a small English-style pub.

Outdoors, the pristine grounds are bright, well maintained, and shaded with huge old oak trees. Numerous sitting areas, many with fire pits, are tucked away around the grounds. A cool sunken grotto lies on the house’s east side, where moss and ferns cling to the crannies of the limestone walls. From there, it’s a few steps to the sunny poolside seats. As guests explore, they’ll find sitting areas tucked everywhere, just right for sipping a cool drink and enjoying conversation.

“The guests have said that although there might be 80 or more people here, they feel like they’re not on top of each other and it’s very peaceful,” said Newlin. “They may join in a group discussion or find one of many quiet nooks.”

Above a slate-flagged patio outside the dining area lies the pool and bath house, and the mineral bath, which is enhanced with a proprietary blend of minerals mixed at the estate.

“We researched it and decided to mix our own minerals,” said Bevis. “We wanted the mineral bath but didn’t want the sulfur smell you get at French Lick.”

In the clay bathing area, you won’t find a pit of mud to wallow in, but pristine deck chairs and a bowl of clay for rubbing on your skin.

“Clay expands 27 times when it is wet,” said Newlin. “So when it dries it contracts and pulls out all the toxins from your skin, lifts off the dead cells, and leaves your skin so soft. There are showers to rinse off after your clay bath.”

The jewels of the grounds are the disk golf course and the Hilltop patio area.

The disk golf course was originally laid out as a golf course by famed course designer Pete Dye, who also laid out the PGA course at French Lick.

A gravel trail leads past the pool area and winds through untouched woodland to the Hilltop, where a stone patio and flower beds surround an Amish-built cabin with a kitchen and bathroom.

Soft blues and jazz music fill the air, while patrons relax, sip wine and enjoy the view over much of the northern portion of Orange County. For weddings, an arch can be erected here for the bride and groom to speak their vows with the stunning panorama spread behind.

“In the future, we’re going to add 16 Victorian-style cottages on top of the hill,” said Newlin, “and a sunken, heated patio area with Greek baths and a saline bath. It will be enclosed with trellises and glass, open above but with heaters, so you can get in them in the winter.”

Guests at Blueberry Hill may choose from a variety of packages to tailor their visits to their own desires.

“Every package has its own price,” said Newlin. “There’s a glamping package, the daily package, a fine-dining package. Disc golf is included in every package but you can’t come just to play golf. Ideally, people will come for the day, spend the night, get up, have breakfast, and then go home refreshed ... that’s what we promote most.”

After less than a month of operation, the estate is busy and growing busier.

“We’ve had mostly couples, but I’m seeing more girl groups,” said Newlin. Blueberry Hill Estate is located in Paoli, Ind. For more information or to arrange a package, call 812-723-3767, or visit www.blueberryhillestate.com.